The Two Small Oni Tamed by the Onmyoji / Assistance from the Serpent God Ibuki Douji

Shuten Douji heard the long-awaited response.

This made her excited.

"Please! Just help me this once, no matter what!"

At this moment, the Oni King of Mount Ōe was incredibly humble, even though what she was praying for had nothing to do with herself.

"...Understood."

White light began to flicker in the room.

Shuten Douji's small body gradually began to change.

When the light dissipated, she had completely transformed into someone else.

That was an existence with a stunning figure that was no less than Minamoto no Raiko's.

However, compared to Minamoto no Raiko, her skin was much darker.

And the originally small and cute horns had now turned into lightning-shaped giant tentacles, making her look more dignified and less childish.

Even more striking was the dragon tail behind her.

This was the other side of Shuten Douji that had come in response to her prayer—Ibuki Douji.

Her true form was the child of the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi, an existence possessing the aspect of a "god."

"..."

Ibuki Douji looked at her hands, her brow furrowing slightly.

She didn't seem very familiar with the feeling of returning to the mortal world.

Or rather—

She had gotten used to the fact that Shuten Douji had fallen into depravity because of sake.

That little brat had actually quit drinking for a month?

Time really does allow you to see everything.

Ibuki Douji thought this, and then slid open the shoji door in front of her.

She walked through the Minamoto clan's residence, attracting the gazes of many servants.

Everyone looked at this strange woman who had suddenly appeared in the residence with surprised expressions.

But Ibuki Douji didn't seem to care—her eyes were searching everywhere for a certain person's figure.

However, she quickly realized that doing it this way was very inefficient.

"I'll ask you."

Ibuki Douji grabbed a servant's collar and asked with a blank expression.

"Where is the Onmyoji?"

Although she was definitely female, Ibuki Douji's strength was surprisingly great.

It was an arm strength like mountains and rivers.

No matter how much the servant she grabbed struggled, he couldn't escape from her grasp.

He could only answer her question.

"Onmyoji?!"

"Are you talking about Lord Abe?!"

"Yes," Ibuki Douji nodded, "I'm looking for him."

"Over there!"

The servant hurriedly pointed to the other side of the corridor.

"Lord Abe went that way just now."

"He should still be in that room!"

"I see."

Ibuki Douji released the servant.

"Thanks."

After saying these words, she walked towards that direction without looking back, leaving behind a group of servants whispering among themselves.

"Who is that person?"

"I don't know... I don't think I've ever seen them before."

"Don't make such a fuss, it's not like Lord is bringing strange people back for the first time."

"After all, he is the Grand Onmyoji."

The servants' whispers didn't reach Ibuki Douji's ears.

Or rather—

She didn't want to listen to such unimportant things at all.

At this moment, she only had one thought in her mind.

That was to quickly find that Grand Onmyoji.

Ibuki Douji arrived at the door of the room the servant had pointed to.

Without saying a word, she directly pulled open the shoji door in front of her.

However, the scene she saw next was something Ibuki Douji hadn't expected.

She saw a man who was already a bit old sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat.

His left hand was holding a book;

And his right hand was pressing on something—a small oni's head.

To be more precise, it should be the head of a small oni who was seriously looking at something.

That was Ibaraki Douji.

Having changed into a kimono, she was lying on his chest like an obedient little rabbit, silently keeping him company as he read—although she didn't seem to understand the meaning of these books very well.

"..."

"..."

The scene was quite awkward for a moment.

[You knew this was definitely not something others should see.]

[You quickly ended everything.]

[But you still didn't know who the woman before you was.]

"You are...?"

Abe no Taishin, having tidied himself up, looked at the woman before him with confusion.

He could confirm that he had definitely never seen her before.

However, this appearance did look a little familiar.

And—

Abe no Taishin saw the pair of horns on the woman's head.

Oni usually used a special aura to make them undetectable.

Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji also used this method to hide themselves.

Of course, this was meaningless to Abe no Taishin—he could see through these disguises at a glance.

But then, was she also an oni?

Before Abe no Taishin could figure out the reason, the woman before him continued to speak.

"Before I explain my identity clearly—"

She looked at Ibaraki Douji, whose eyes still held a bit of longing for the Grand Onmyoji, her eyes full of doubt.

"Aren't you an Onmyoji?"

Ibuki Douji asked, "How did you manage to get a female oni to do something like that for you?"

"I'm very curious."

"..."

The Grand Onmyoji frowned tightly, as if considering whether or not to tell the truth about this matter.

But Ibaraki Douji beside him was very frank.

She took Abe no Taishin's arm and said very seriously:

"I asked him to do this."

"The fox spirit isn't here, the cow isn't here, and Shuten isn't here either."

"So—"

"The only one who can accompany Abe-sama to read is me."

"Moreover—"

Ibaraki Douji looked at the woman before her.

"If I'm not mistaken,"

"You... are the other 'her' that Shuten summoned, right?"

"I can feel her aura coming from you."

"..."

Ibuki Douji smiled calmly.

"Is that so?"

"You saw through me."

[Ibuki Douji told you and Ibaraki Douji what had happened.]

[You felt a little unbelievable—after all, Shuten Douji was the kind of person who would feel uncomfortable all over if she didn't drink for a day.]

[But you didn't doubt that she would really do such a thing.]

[After all, she really hadn't asked you for sake for a month.]

"I see," Abe no Taishin nodded.

"So the other identity Shuten mentioned was you."

"Yes."

Ibuki Douji didn't hide anything.

"I am the deity that little brat summoned to help you."

"..."

[At this moment, you roughly understood what Shuten Douji meant—to portray the great fire as the work of gods and demons.]

[However, you were still a little doubtful.]

[Because you didn't know what method the Ibuki Douji before you would use to achieve this.]

[After all, she didn't really look like she could do such a thing at this moment.]

Ibuki Douji saw Abe no Taishin's confusion.

She said:

"Do you think that in my current state, I'm not worthy of that great fire?"

Although she used the same self-reference as Shuten Douji, the feeling Ibuki Douji gave Abe no Taishin was completely different.

She was clearly much more mature.

Seeing this, Abe no Taishin didn't beat around the bush and directly nodded.

"Yes, that's indeed what I think."

"Alright then—"

Ibuki Douji's gaze swept over Abe no Taishin and Ibaraki Douji present.

"In that case, perhaps I should show you something."

"Can we go to a more open place now?"

"..."

Abe no Taishin was silent for a moment, and finally nodded.

"Okay."

[According to Ibuki Douji's request, you left the Minamoto clan's residence.]

[You pretended that everything was normal and left the capital.]

[You arrived at an uninhabited forest.]

"Hmm... this place looks very suitable for me to show my skills."

Ibuki Douji looked at the surrounding environment and said this.

"Is that so?"

Abe no Taishin looked at the woman before him, vaguely feeling something.

"Then—"

"Ibuki, let's begin."

"Yes, I know."

Without much more words, Ibuki Douji directly demonstrated the power worthy of the great fire in Heian-kyō.

Her figure gradually transformed in front of the Grand Onmyoji and Ibaraki Douji's eyes.

It was an extremely terrifying rate of expansion.

It broke countless tree branches, and even the ground began to tremble along with it.

After everything stopped.

Ibuki Douji revealed her true form—a huge and terrifying serpent.

In this state, just slightly moving her body would cause the ground to groan.

"How is it?!"

"Am I worthy of that great fire in this form?!"

[Ibuki Douji proved that she was worthy of the great fire in Heian-kyō.]

[Having been asked by Shuten Douji, she was also very willing to help you put on a good show.]

[She would appear in Kyoto in this powerful form and then become the one who caused the great fire in Heian-kyō, thereby covering up everything.]

[You carefully planned for some time.]

[You began your actions.]

[Half a month later, your plan began.]

"That kind of ayakashi... is it real?"

Minamoto no Raiko looked at the giant serpent that had appeared on the street, her eyes full of disbelief.

It wasn't that she hadn't killed ayakashi with her husband before.

But those ayakashi, although their appearances were mostly different from ordinary people, their size was still within an acceptable range.

But—

The giant serpent before her had completely exceeded this range.

Minamoto no Raiko could feel that it was an existence even more powerful than ayakashi.

"My lady." Abe no Taishin's voice sounded.

"Husband."

Minamoto no Raiko came back to her senses and looked at the man beside her.

She muttered softly:

"This giant serpent..."

Before Minamoto no Raiko could finish speaking, Abe no Taishin had already spoken first.

"Perhaps it has returned for revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Yes," the Grand Onmyoji nodded.

"That great fire that burned in Heian Palace might have had some meaning for it."

Abe no Taishin continued, "And after we extinguished that great fire, it felt offended, so it attacked again."

As soon as he finished speaking, raging flames erupted on the street.

Everything looked exactly as the Grand Onmyoji had said.

Minamoto no Raiko didn't doubt her husband in the first place, and such a scene naturally made her even more convinced.

"Husband, so now..."

"My lady, don't worry."

Abe no Taishin looked at the giant serpent in the sea of fire.

"I already have a way to deal with it... This time, these problems will be completely resolved."

Saying this, the Grand Onmyoji resolutely walked towards the sea of fire.

And Minamoto no Raiko looked at his figure, her expression slightly serious.

She always felt that her husband was doing something behind her back.

[This was of course not some giant serpent's revenge.]

[The flames on the street were just the result of the Onmyōdō formation you had laid down in advance taking effect.]

[And that street was also specially "cleared" by you—not a single person in Heian-kyō would be harmed by this great fire.]

[The battle between you and the giant serpent that Ibuki Douji transformed into was also the same.]

[You didn't intend to really fight her.]

[After all, dealing with such a powerful serpent god was not an easy task.]

[Fortunately, Ibuki Douji hadn't forgotten what she was there to do.]

[You fought and retreated, creating an intense atmosphere.]

[You finally disguised everything as a scene where the giant serpent was beheaded by the Onmyoji.]

[You let many people see this scene.]

[But in reality, it was just Ibuki Douji turning back into human form.]

[You escaped from the sea of fire.]

[This would become your achievement and would also explain the problem of the great fire.]

On the rooftop of a certain house in Kyoto.

Abe no Taishin and Ibuki Douji were sitting there.

Before them was a sea of fire, and many people were fighting to extinguish the flames.

At the place where they had just "fought," the snake skin that Ibuki Douji had shed was burning.

That would become her "corpse," bearing all the problems.

"Phew—"

Abe no Taishin breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's finally over."

"Thank you, Ibuki."

"There's nothing to thank me for," Ibuki Douji replied, "I wasn't helping you, I was just helping that little brat."

"Is that so..."

Abe no Taishin smiled and didn't mind.

"That works too."

"I'll thank you on behalf of Shuten."

"..."

Ibuki Douji turned her head to look at Abe no Taishin.

"Speaking of which, you're really amazing."

"Amazing?"

"Yes," Ibuki Douji nodded.

"You've trained those two little oni to be so obedient."

"And you were even able to make that little brat willing to quit drinking for a month for your sake."

"That's no easy feat."

"Shuten herself has willpower."

"No," Ibuki Douji shook her head, "That little brat wouldn't have that kind of willpower, otherwise I wouldn't have disappeared."

"She did it because she likes you."

"So—"

The serpent god looked at the Grand Onmyoji.

"You won't let her down, will you?"

"Hmm. Isn't that obvious?"

"Alright, with you saying that, I can rest assured."

Ibuki Douji gently kissed the Grand Onmyoji on the cheek.

"You're very interesting, but now isn't the time for me to study you. I hope we have the chance to meet again in the future."

Light flickered.

The powerful serpent god gradually turned back into the little oni who loved to drink.

And Shuten Douji's first words after waking up surprised Abe no Taishin a bit.

"Mister, is it all settled?!"

She was still thinking about this matter.

Abe no Taishin was a little moved.

He hugged her and whispered in her ear:

"It's settled."

"And—"

"Shuten, would you like the big stick tonight?"

"Eh?!"

Shuten Douji could hardly believe what she had heard.

This was the first time he had proactively expressed a desire to do so.

But—

She couldn't refuse.

Because she really liked it.

The little oni girl who liked the big stick lowered her head and then nodded with a red face, whispering:

"...I want it."

"Hmm, that's good then."

"Wait, Mister!" Shuten Douji grabbed the Grand Onmyoji's clothes.

"Can we call Ibaraki too?"

"Of course."

Abe no Taishin gently stroked Shuten Douji's hair.

"As long as you like it."

"Shuten, you've worked hard."